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A practical guide to eating less meat

A 5-day (one-a-week) email course from Vox.

“[It’ll] teach you how to easily incorporate more plant-based foods into your diet, give you evidence-based behavior strategies to make it last, and serve up plenty of food for thought on how our choices impact animals, our health, and the planet.”

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Often, consumers inadvertently give too much credit to ‘scientifically studied’ product claims

“‘Clinically studied’ can mean lots of things,” said Alan Castel, the paper’s senior author and a UCLA psychology professor. “Maybe the product was studied only in animals, or in people, but found to be ineffective or not effective enough. ‘Clinically studied’ only shows that someone was interested enough in the product to study it, not that the study was well-designed or showed conclusively that the supplement works.” 

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A new day.

My friend Louise won my corner of the internet with this paragraph last week. It is a beautiful way to describe the ebb and flow of life and fitness:

“I visualize the days of my visiting friends as a stretch of exciting, fun rapids. And now, I’m a slow-running, sandy-bottom, lazy river, under a deep blue sky. No paddling is necessary. Just…float. Until the next stretch of rapids, of course. Which is likely just around that bend.” 

The full, short blog is well worth your time.

-J

Pick one upper-body exercise and one lower-body exercise that complement each other.

Pair an upper-body push exercise, such as an overhead press or a push-up, and pair it with a lower-body exercise that includes some form of upper-body pulling.

Usually, that pull in the lower-body exercise is isometrics.

Such as a deadlift, single-leg deadlift, or kettlebell swing.

If you feel “cold” or “old,” do a quick warm-up with a get-up or two on both sides.

Then, alternate the upper and lower body exercises with whatever time you have left.

Depending on the exercise, I like the reps somewhere between 2 and 8.

Rest enough between the sets to be able to talk somewhat ok.

Then go again.

This simple combo works well for a longer workout too.

-J

Standing or moving on a balance board or a Bosu ball isn’t going to improve ankle strength unless you’re in the early stages of ankle rehab after surgery.

Building strength requires significant resistance. Doing strength exercises on a balance board will limit the amount of weight you can move, as most of your focus is on staying upright.

To really build ankle strength, focus on single-leg strength exercises such as single-leg squats and single-leg deadlifts. Even step-ups.

Yes, you might spend some time in the beginning to get your balance right.

But once you get a hang of it, you’ll get way more out of it than trying to balance on an unstable surface.

-J

Whether the Zone 2 hype is warranted depends on one significant factor: whether you have female or male physiology.

But first, here’s a quick recap of zone 2 training:

Any continuous cardio activity at around 70-75% of your max heart rate for over 30 minutes. Ideally closer to an hour.

Men have poorer mitochondria respiration and mitochondria density than women.

Men need more slow aerobic work, such as Zone 2. What the men are doing is based on the science done on men.

You already have the qualities that men try to improve with Zone 2 because you’re a woman.

You’re better off focusing the bulk of your training on high-intensity work and strength training.

This will improve the quantities that you need more of: mitochondrial and anaerobic capacity.

And then mix that with just enough of Zone 2 to improve your aerobic base.

-J

In hindsight, ‘getting on HRT means you’re smart’ wasn’t the right thing to say in my earlier blog.

A more accurate would’ve been to highlight that no one should ignore HRT without first speaking to a trusted health expert well-versed in HRT.

Many general practitioners (most?) aren’t up to date with the latest hormone replacement therapy (HRT) science and information. And if they are, you will likely not get all your questions answered in a typical 15-minute consultation.

That’s not a dig at doctors but at the healthcare system itself. There are exceptions, but generally, a 15-minute consultation doesn’t always empower doctors to do their best work. It just is what it is.

And just as there are good and bad trainers, there are good and bad doctors.

Your HRT discussion has to be with a doctor and women’s health expert well-versed in the latest HRT. And one who will not feel rushed to answer your questions and concerns about HRT. Then, decide if it’s the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, exceptional doctors aren’t always easy to find.

There is a slight risk of cancer with HRT.

Australasian Menopause Society’s stance on the cancer risk is as follows: “For the majority of symptomatic women, the benefits of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) outweigh the risks.”

But this is a conversation between the HRT specialist and you to see if the benefits outweigh the risks.

It’s shameful that there isn’t as much research on this topic (or most topics affecting women, such as endometriosis) compared to issues that affect men.

I am hoping that the tide is starting to turn on that. Even if slowly.

-J

As a recovering perfectionist with a history of orthorexic eating and an obsessive approach to exercise in my 20s, I can relate to most of this.

“Often people think about it as just having high standards,” Anna Bardone-Cone, professor in the psychology and neuroscience department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says.

“Perfectionism is more complex than that.”

It involves “evaluating yourself all the time” and feeling strongly that “others have very high expectations for you; that others expect [you] to be perfect”.

And eating disorders are strongly associated with it.”

Here’s the full article. It’s worth a read for us parents, too.

-J

Unless you’re part of a particular cult, most hiking follows a predictable pattern: you move forward—one leg after another.

Sure, you go up and down in elevation. But you’re still moving forward.

If hiking and step-ups, split squats, and lunges are all you do, you’ll eventually run (hike?) into trouble.

To become a well-rounded hiker, what you need to do in the gym are the things you ignore when hiking.

And that means swapping some of your forward-moving exercises for lateral movements.

Think of lateral lunges and squats or lateral step-ups and step-downs.

If you’ve ignored these exercises until now, prepare to be humbled. And sore.

Start easy, get used to the movement, and work up to solid sets of 12-15 before adding load.

-J

Here’s a simple way to build your aerobic base without leaving the house. If you’re stuck inside because of a cyclone, pollution or cane toad armageddon.

Do weighted step-ups with 20% of your body weight. For a 70kg woman, that’s 14kg.

You can hold a kettlebell or last night’s tray of leftover lasagne. But having a loaded backpack is way more pleasant for your hands.

Do that for 1 minute.

Then, complete a get down get up. Aka, a get-up, reversed.

Rest as needed to keep the pace around 70% of your max heart rate (220 – your age. Not the most accurate calculation, but good enough).

Or just keep the intensity at a pace where you can hold a more or less normal conversation.

Do anywhere between 20-60 minutes.

But let’s be real. 60 minutes sounds about as exciting as eating a bowl of cardboard.

Unless you have a decent podcast going.

-J

ps. I think I first saw this in StrongFirst.

That kind of thinking seems to fall in line with the common theme of the pointy end of health and wellness:

Humans are weak if we can’t deal with our ailments without outside help.

No painkillers. No IVF. No HRT. And definitely no vaccinations!

Only because they’re “not natural.”

But just because something is natural doesn’t instantly mean it’s better. Crocodiles are natural here where we live, but I would rather not cross paths with one.

Anyway.

Panadol makes your headache go away. IVF can feel like a miracle (It did for us. Twice. Not that I believe in miracles. But #science).

Vaccination means you don’t have to deal with, I don’t know, polio. And HRT can make all the difference between struggling and thriving.

Denying HRT because it’s “not natural” is like denying a smartphone and opting to call your friends with smoke signals.

Getting HRT doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re smart.

And lucky to live in a world where these treatments are available. #science

-J

If menopause symptoms are messing up with your life, the answer is probably a resounding yes.

And that’s regardless of if you’re peri- or postmenopause.

Now, as you well know, I am not a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) expert. In fact, I know very little about what it entails.

But the topic really interests me. And I’ve spoken with and listened to a bunch of interviews with gynecologists who are experts in HRT.

And all of them recommend at least trialling HRT if the menopause symptoms are fucking up with your life.

So, instead of trying to act like an expert in something I am not, I have a better idea.

I recommend you make an appointment with your gynecologist to weigh your options.

You might find that there’s a relatively simple solution to feeling better.

-J